Internal combustion engines, such as multi-cylinder diesel or gasoline engines, typically include a cylinder block defining a plurality of cylinder bores which reciprocally carry respective pistons therein. Each cylinder bore may include a cylinder liner in which the piston actually reciprocates. Cylinder liners allow a cylinder block with a particular cylinder bore configuration and size to be used with multiple different diameter pistons by simply changing the cylinder liners for a particularly configured engine. Moreover, the cylinder liners may be removed and replaced if worn through use over time. Additionally, an internal combustion engine for use as a diesel engine may require a cylinder liner which is configured differently from an internal combustion engine used as a gasoline engine.
It is known to provide a sealing ring at the distal end of a cylinder liner in an internal combustion engine. An example of such a sealing ring is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,853 (Kubis et al.). With such a sealing ring, the distal end of the cylinder liner is disposed a distance away from the bottom side of the cylinder head. The radial force exerted on the seal therefore may be relatively large during combustion of the fuel and air mixture within the combustion chamber during operation. Accordingly, such sealing rings are typically disposed adjacent to suitable backing structure to inhibit the sealing ring from deflecting radially outward. Moreover, the pressure exerted against the sealing ring may require that relatively high clamping forces be exerted between the cylinder head and cylinder block using a large number of fasteners such as bolts, or large diameter bolts.
It is also known to provide an integral combination scraping ring and sealing ring at the distal end of a cylinder block defining a cylinder bore. U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,147 (Hoopes) discloses an annular combination fire ring and scraping insert having a generally L-shaped cross section. The combination fire ring and scraping insert has a relatively complex cross sectional shape requiring multiple bending and forming operations which all tend to affect the dimensional tolerances of the combination ring. Moreover, the multiple bending and forming operations add to the cost of the combination ring.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems as set forth above.